"Shallow men believe in luck. " Ralph Waldo Emerson
I once overheard someone wishing “good luck” to a friend facing a desperate situation. I was already aware of the problem but was immediately struck by how futile that wish sounded. No matter how well-intended, “good luck” seemed incapable of handling the desperation of my friend's circumstances.
Belief in luck is an untenable position. Luck is the possibility of something happening to you. It does not rely on logic, preexisting conditions, or human intervention, only chance. Chance is the powerless, directionless, and unmeasurable variable we employ when we cannot explain how something happened. Good luck is the possibility that something positive will happen to you, while bad luck is the possibility of something negative happening. And what determines if we will have good or bad luck is left to the randomness of chance. This makes luck not only unpredictable but also illogical.
This irrational combination has not stopped us from trying to turn good luck in our favor. If circumstances worked out positively for us in the past, we try to recreate the environment and repeat the actions that led to our successes. On the other hand, actions that gave us negative outcomes are stigmatized and avoided. On some level, this makes sense. There are logical and reasonable actions that result in positive outcomes in our lives, like physical exercise and being helpful to others. Unfortunately, luck is neither logical nor reasonable, and any attempt to control it leads us into superstition. Sports teams that touch their home banner before going on to the field for luck to win the game. The student who carries a lucky penny to help her pass an exam. The man who knocks on a wooden surface to ensure the good things happening in his life are not taken away. There are no logical reasons why these actions should result in their desired outcomes, but logic is an inconvenience for anyone dealing in luck and superstition.
So, what could I do for my friend in that desperate situation? I did not have the material resources to solve the problem, but I did have a positive and powerful alternative than the wish of good luck. I could pray.
END OF PART ONE.
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